Self-employed confident about prospects

Almost a third (32%) of self-employed people are ‘very confident’ about the prospects for their business over the next six months, with 47% expecting turnover to increase in the coming year.

These are the key findings of the first Kensington Mortgages Self-Employed Index, which has been launched to track the mood, expectations and behaviour of the self-employed with research carried out and published every quarter.

The first instalment of the Index has found the UK’s business owners in surprisingly buoyant mood, with six out of ten expressing confidence about their business prospects for the next six months. The most confident age group is between 35 and 44, with 40% of self-employed people in this category claiming to be ‘very confident’. However, it is the 25 to 34 age group that has the highest expectations for the growth of their business in the next 12 months, with 73% in this category saying that they expect turnover to increase.

And businesses do not expect to have to increase their marketing spend to maintain their current levels of turnover. 32% say they definitely do not think they will have to increase their marketing spend, while 21% say they will probably not have to increase their marketing budget.

But despite high expectations for turnover growth, the self-employed have conservative expectations when it comes to growing their workforce. Only 6% say they are definitely likely to recruit more staff over the next 12 months, while 53% say they are definitely not looking to recruit.

Opinion is divided among small business owners as to whether they think they will be investing in their business in the next 12 months, with 26% saying that they will definitely be investing and 25% saying that they will definitely not.

And when it comes to funding further investment in the business, the most popular method is from personal savings (48%), almost a fifth (19%) will use a business loan and only 1% will look to fund investment in their business with a remortgage.

According to the Kensington Mortgages Self-Employed Index, which has spoken to more than 550 self-employed people, 67% of the self-employed population is male and the most popular age group for people to be self-employed is between 35 and 54. Two thirds of business owners are in the ABC1 social grade (67%), and 67% are either married or living as married.

Kensington Mortgages has 12 years’ experience of lending to the self-employed so it really understands the needs and circumstances of people who own their own business. And, with its new range of Prime Self-Cert products, all self-employed borrowers can benefit from criteria such as no minimum trading period, no income verification required and maximum 90% LTV.

Ian Giles, Director of Marketing at Kensington Mortgages, said: “Knowledge is power and, with the number of people working for themselves growing all the time, the Kensington Mortgages Self-Employed Index can help put advisers in a very powerful position. This is just the first instalment of the Index, but we expect it to become an integral part of every adviser’s business toolkit.

“It’s a benign economic environment for the self-employed and this is reflected in the high confidence levels we have seen in the Index. But, with uncertainty hanging over the future of the Base Rate, business owners are understandably cautious when it comes to stretching their finances. Intermediaries can play an important role in making sure the self-employed get the advice they need to keep their finances in good shape.”